A Lullaby Sang in Moonlight
by Tengu Queen
Summary: Who says love always comes before marriage? Sasuke returns home one night, and finds a surprising, and breathtaking sight. Sakura singing to their child. Oneshot Major SasuSaku Don't like, Don't read. Slight Spoilers


A Lullaby in the Moonlight

A young man with raven black hair, dressed in slate black clothing quietly opened the front door to his house. Silently he entered, closing the door behind him before kicking off his shoes.

It was after midnight now, so the main hall of the Uchiha residence was quite dark, but that didn't matter to the man. Ninja were practically required to have excellent night vision, and Sasuke Uchiha was no exception.

So the young man in question did not hesitate before entering the shadowy passage, noiselessly padding across the polished wood floor.

However, as everyone knows, when everything is silent, you tend to listen harder for things to break that stillness.

And that's how Sasuke heard the singing, even though it was so soft that it barely tickled his ears.

Within seconds said Uchiha had narrowed down the singing to one possible location and two possible people.

The location was the baby's room.

And either that was Sakura singing, or some intruder had broken in, which he highly doubted.

Either way, Sasuke walked through the various hallways, finally making it to the newborn's nursery. The door was already partially open, giving a full view of the room inside.

Moonlight spilled through the large, open window on the north-most wall, and the wind blew a soft, flower-scented breeze that played with the gauze-like white curtains. Various types of furniture dotted the room, not the least of which was a light fixture and a crib, but at the moment neither of these items were in use.

Instead, natural light filtered through the curtains, casting a silvery glow on everything it touched, including the young mother holding her babe.

Sakura smiled softly down at the white-clothed bundle in her arms, lips moving to form the words of her lullaby.

_"Mori no fukuro ga _

_iimashita  
watashi wa mori no _

_mihari yaku"_

Sasuke stared at his wife as the breeze played with strands of her pink, silver-tinted hair, listening to her serene voice echo through the doorway.

_"kowai okami, kitsune _

_nado  
kosasenai kara ne ne _

_shina"_

Sakura slowly swayed back and forth, rocking the little Uchiha babe into the blissful realms of sleep.

_"gorosuke ho ho  
gorosuke ho"_

As the lullaby came to a close, the mother stopped her swaying, and looked down into the face of her little girl.

Sasuke held his breath, as if even the briefest stir of the air would break the precious moment he saw before him.

Sakura stood stone still, gazing down into the face of the infant. Moonlight lent a pale radiance to her face, and her eyes seemed to glow with quiet tranquility. The breeze glided through the room, causing pink locks to dance above the white bundle in her arms, and causing Sakura's long silken nightgown to ripple in the night.

Then, her voice broke the silence.

"Come here, Sasuke," she asked, voice barely a whisper.

After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke complied, stepping into the nursery, seemingly a shadow in the moonlit room. Gradually he came to stand behind the young woman, looking over her shoulder at the young babe.

Yuriko Uchiha breathed softly in her slumber, her pale skin reflecting the white light. A short patch of black hair adorned her head, and the elder Uchiha knew that if she opened her eyes, they would be coal black, just like his. Her forehead, however, was large, just like her mother's.

Sasuke then, once again turned to look up at Sakura, who looked back at him, smiling softly.

As his obsidian eyes met her glowing green orbs, his heart began to beat just a little bit faster.

And within a blink of an eye, his lips were on hers, shocking the woman.

It was not a deep, passionate, hungry kiss, nor was it particularly needing or loving.

Instead, it was a sweet, chaste kiss that left the taste of hesitance on Sakura's lips.

But that kiss alone brought tears to the young woman's eyes as no other had.

For never, in the entire year and one month of their marriage, had Sasuke given her a kiss filled with such emotion.

Gently, Sasuke plucked young Yuriko from her mother's arms, and laid her back into the crib.

Then he walked back to his wife, and stared at her, drinking in her radiant beauty.

Then, in a quiet, and surprisingly gentle voice, he said, "Let's go to bed, Sakura."

The young woman nodded dumbly, as her husband took her hand in his, and led the way to their bedroom.

Once in bed, Sakura buried her face into Sasuke's neck, and wrapped her arms around his waist. And, for the first time, Sasuke did not push her away.

As the two drifted into sleep, a single tear of joy fell from Sakura's eyes.

Epilogue

One year later, Sasuke lay in that same bed, with a sleeping Sakura cradled against his chest. His long, pale fingers were gently combing through her hair, untangling it from their previous activities.

As he looked down at her face, a great warmth blossomed in his chest. A warmth that had been absent for many, many years.

Love.

As he realized this, his hand stilled in her hair, and the night air itself seemed to hesitate.

When had he fallen in love with Sakura?

The question reverberated in his brain.

He hadn't loved her when they were in school together.

He hadn't loved her when they were both put on Cell 7.

He hadn't loved her when she had cried over his body.

He hadn't loved her when she watched over him during the Chuunin exams.

He hadn't loved her when he left all those years ago.

He hadn't loved her when he came back.

And he hadn't loved her when he asked her to marry and become a Uchiha.

He had cared for the kunoichi, surely, but as a teammate, a comrade. Not as a lover. And he had only asked Sakura for her hand because she was the only female close enough to even consider as a wife.

So when had it happened?

Then his mind drifted back, to one year past, and a ghostly memory of a lullaby sang in the moonlight drifted through his head.

Sasuke looked up, and out of the window, staring at the full moon as it hung in the black sky. A few moments later, his gentle gaze drifted back to the sleeping woman in his arms, and he stared at her.

Needless to say, after Sasuke had been staring for a few moments, Sakura woke up.

"Sasuke?" she murmured, sleep clouding her eyes.

Her husband smiled at her, truly smiled, and then gave her a soft, chaste kiss.

"Go back to sleep, Sakura," he whispered in her ear.

Smiling, Sakura snuggled up into his chest, sighing happily.

A quiet chuckle sounded from Sasuke's chest, before he too, closed his eyes.

The gentle breeze wafted through the window, carrying with it a soft melody, sung long ago to soothe a young Uchiha.

And in his sleep, Sasuke smiled.

A/N: Okay, now everyone join in- motions Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. The lullaby is "Mori no Fukuro" incase you were wondering. If you want to hear what it sounds like, (and you have flash player), go to this URL: http/ remember, Reviews are the best reward to a writer! Please tell me if I portrayed people out of character! (Especially Sasuke, considering I haven't seriously written him before this fic.)

Ja ne!

Tengu Queen Out


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